Israel Releases 12-year-old Palestinian Girl, Dima al-Wawi

Dima, moments after she was released to her parents. (ActiveStills.org)

The Israeli authorities on Sunday released 12-year-old Dima al-Wawi to her family after she spent two-and-a-half months in Israeli prison for an alleged attempted manslaughter carried out at an illegal Israeli settlement.

Believed to have been the youngest female Palestinian to be incarcerated by Israel, al-Wawi’s parent filed requests for her release and Israel agreed to release the child two months early, alongside an 8,000 shekel ($2,100) plea deal payment.

She was released at the Israeli military checkpoint Jubara in the northern West Bank district of Tulkarem, welcomed by the district’s governor Issam Abu Bakr and head of the Palestinian Authority’s Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Qaraqe, among others.

“The detention of children is a crime against humanity,” the governor said, adding that “the Israeli occupation violates children’s’ dignity and their right to live.” Issa Qaraqe also addressed those welcoming al-Wawi saying that Israel “practices the ugliest means of suppression and torture against Palestinian children.”

Al-Wawi was detained on Feb. 9 and sentenced in an Israeli military court on Feb. 18 for attempted voluntary manslaughter and the illegal possession of a knife, after she allegedly went to the illegal Karmei Tzur settlement with the intention of stabbing settlers.

Her detention was caught on tape and broadcast by Israeli Channel 1, where the girl is recorded admitting her intention to carry out a stabbing attack.
Earlier this month, following the requests filed by her parents, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) agreed to the early release of Dima al-Wawi, initially sentenced to four-and-a-half months in prison for attempted manslaughter.

The 12-year-old’s parents, backed by a public campaign, sought to end their daughters’ detention, which they said violated both Israeli and international law regarding the detention of children.

While Israeli law does not allow prison sentences for children under the age of 14, Israeli military law — which applies to Palestinians living under military occupation in the West Bank — allows for children as young as 12 to be charged for “nationalistic-motivated” violent offenses.

Al-Wawi was reportedly held in prison alongside adult prisoners and denied access to a social worker during her detention.

Violations against Palestinian children in Israel’s military court system are widely documented.

According to figures obtained by Haaretz from IPS, the number of Palestinian minors imprisoned for security-related offenses rose from 170 last September to 438 in February, following a wave of unrest that has spread across the occupied Palestinian territory since October.

Al-Wawi was among five Palestinian children and the only girl under the age of 14 held Israeli prisons during this period, while no Palestinians under 14 were being held prior to September, the report added.

Only one Palestinian girl had been held in Israeli custody before September, while 12 have been imprisoned since, including al-Wawi.

5 Comments

I am from Vancouver,Canada and I recently heard about the release from prison of Dima Al-Wawi.That is good news.This girl should not have been in prison to begin with.The majority of people in the world supports Dima Al-Wawi and other Palestinians fighting against Israeli Apartheid.It will be people like Dima Al-Wawi that will free Palestine from Israeli Apartheid.
The BDS Movement against Israel is doing good work in many parts of the world.The gov’ts of Canada,USA,England,France and Israel are trying to stop the BDS Movement but they can’t do it.This is the kind of action that is needed in all parts of the world to put an end to Israeli Apartheid.

Libor Supcik: Your anogy fails because Jews have had a constant presence on this land spanning more than 3,500 years. It is not a case of Jews returning after 12 centuries. The land as always had us. We are its indigenous people. Sorry to disappoint you.

That’s actually just another Zionist BS myth. Monotheism did not emerge in the region until at the very earliest in the reign of King Josiah 6th cent.BCE. Israeli archaeologists have, through their investigations (The Bible Unearthed), proven that Abraham and the patriarchs didn’t exist, Moses didn’t exist, there was no Exodus from Egypt, King David was a minor hill country chieftain and Solomon did not exist. You are no indigenous as Prof. Shlomo Sand has proven – no Exile occurred. Zionism is built on primitive myths and legends for primitive minds. Jews emerged from the Canaanite population and the Palestinians are the descended from the Canaanites converting to Christianity and

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